PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION

CONVENTION demands that in the preface to a new book the
author should excuse his temerity in adding to the litera-
ture on the subject and should also state the objects he
hopes to attain. My excuse is the fascination, perhaps my
readers will say the fatal fascination, of the subject. Of all the
departments of English law. Private International Law offers
the freest scope to the mere jurist. It is the perfect antithesis of
such a topic as real property law. It is not overloaded with de-
tailed rules, it has been only lightly touched by the paralysing
hand of the Parliamentary draftsman, it is perhaps the one
considerable department in which the formation of a coherent
body of law is in course of process, it is, at the moment, fluid not
static, elusive not obvious, it repels any tendency to dogmatism,
and, above all, the possible permutations of the questions that
it raises are so numerous that the diligent investigator can
seldom rest content with the solution that he proposes. Despite
its value as a subject of academic study it is curiously neglected
in the legal education of this country, a fact which is remarkable
if regard is had to the number of different legal systems that the
British Empire comprises. On the Continent and in the United
States of America, Private International Law is one of the
major subjects of study at the Universities, but in England it
cannot claim a professorship of its own and it forms only an
insignificant part of the chief law examinations.

The purpose of this book, however, is not merely to indulge
my own fancy, but to provide students with a shorter account
of the subject than most of those already published. Further,
my object has been, not to remain satisfied with mere exposition
but to approach the more controversial topics in a spirit of
constructive criticism. There are many instances in which I
have found it impossible to agree with the views of such great
masters as Dicey and Westlake, and in which I have ventured,
perhaps rashly, to suggest that the relevant authorities indicate
a somewhat different principle, but in all such cases I have been
careful to present the reader with what may be called the
generally accepted textbook view of each matter. Some of the
mild strictures contained in this book may not be well founded,
but even so they can do little harm, for there is no doubt that